Sunday, March 15, 2020

Coronavirus 12

15th March 2020The UK government's action, or lack of action, has come under unprecedented criticism.Harry Stevens, in the Washington Post, provides a helpful visualisation of how an infection can spread and how that spread can be slowed, giving the health care system invaluable time to cope. Watch it hereA letter from Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet, and many other well know figures (and me) was sent to the government, calling for more urgent action. Read it hereMost importantly, 282 scientists from British universities and a further 33 distinguished international scientists, have signed this letter.It concludes, "We consider the social
distancing measures taken as of today as insufficient, and we believe that additional and more restrictive measures should be taken immediately, as it is already
happening in other countries across the world."The UK Government has never before faced such a serious criticism from the scientific community on an issue that is life-critical for a couple of million people.

Postscript.Arne Akbar, Professor of Immunology University College London, President of the British Society for Immunology, is about as top a top expert as one can find. He has written this open letter to the Government.